Waking Up (and the complications therein)
by IsGravityFallsStillOnHiatus
Summary: In which Dipper struggles to get up in the morning and Connie has very little sympathy for him.


**12-24-2021**

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Peacefully dozing, swaddled in warm blankets, and hugging the person who, as far as he was concerned, was the coolest in the world to his chest, all Dipper felt was pure, unadulterated bliss. Until, that was, the familiar sensation of a foot lightly nudging his shin made itself known. Choosing to ignore it, his only response was to scrunch his eyes closed tighter and bury his head into the soft body pushing against his own.

"C'mon, Dipper," a soft voice spoke into his ear, causing him to grudgingly and blearily open his eyes to peer sleepily at the woman lying next to him. She was wearing nothing but an oversized T-shirt that had once belonged to him (not that he was complaining; it looked better on her, anyway), giving him a clear view of her. They were lying on their sides and facing each other, barely an inch apart with each of their arms wrapped around the other in a loose embrace. One of her legs was entangled with both of his own while the other had been pulled free in order to nudge him awake, as was her custom. "We gotta get up."

"No we don', Connie," he mumbled, his voice, which was halfway between sleepy and petulant, becoming more slurred by the second. "I's Chris'mis. We don' gotta do an- an- annnnyyyything," he yawned, seemingly very impressed with his use of logic so early in the morning. "Sides," he added with a barely-audible mumble, now all-but-completely asleep again, "you're warm."

With his eyes having drifted shut again over the course of his speech, Dipper failed to notice the colour in Connie's cheeks rising slightly at his last observation, as well as the half-pleased, half-embarrassed smile that accompanied its doing so. Rolling her eyes in slight exasperation, she poked him lightly in the chest with her index finger. "We've got plenty to do," she argued back, "since _someone_ insisted on procrastinating."

"Was busy," the young man protested weakly. "Doin' stuff." That got her attention, if only accidentally: Dipper was the only person she knew capable of acting shifty while simultaneously too sleepy to form full sentences.

Rolling her boyfriend onto his back and propping herself up on her elbow to get a better look at him, Connie could quite clearly see the slightly evasive expression he was wearing as Dipper "I-practically-raised-by-a-conman" Pines rapidly forced himself awake. "What kinda stuff?" she asked suspiciously, though it had a playful undercurrent to it.

"The Christmassy and surprissy kind," he said, carefully avoiding eye contact.

"Were you getting me a gift?"

"Wouldn't you like to know."

"That's why I asked."

Dipper cocked his head in thought. He gave a seemingly-contemplative hum before abruptly grabbing Connie's arm and pulling her on top of him, grinning from ear to ear. "Too bad."

Connie laughed as she fell gracelessly on top of the frustratingly-obstinate young man. Usually, such a lack of coordination was more his thing than hers, but she supposed she could be forgiven for it so early in the morning; she hadn't even had a shower, yet. "Just a hint?" she asked teasingly, looking down at him with exaggerated innocence.

"Does 'wait and see' count as a hint?" Dipper replied without missing a beat. A light slap to the chest was his only response. "I'll take that as a 'no.'"

"Darn skippy, that's a 'no,'" Connie huffed with mock indignation before growing serious. "But we really do need to get up. Now c'mon, we hafta get dressed." After a quick peck on the lips, Connie pushed herself up and stood.

"Since when d'you want me wearing _more_ clothes?" Dipper muttered, slightly annoyed because, really, what possible excuse could she have for making him get up so early on a holiday? It wasn't like they were visiting anyone, or anything. That had blown up in their faces rather spectacularly the past two years, and they weren't about to tempt fate.

Despite her cheeks heating up in a furious blush, Connie managed enough self-control that her reply was matter-of-fact. "Most of the time, actually. It's not like you walk around naked in public."

"Should I?" came the immediate response, spoken with what appeared to be the utmost sincerity. "'Cause that's a thing I can do, if you-" The pillow that was thrown lightly into his face, cutting him off rather elegantly in the process, was answer enough, though Dipper swore there was more sway in her hips than usual when she walked to the bathroom (he considered himself something of an expert on the subject), and the wink she threw over her shoulder before closing the door behind her was decidedly saucy. "I'm not hearing a 'no!'" he called after her, earning himself a hastily-stifled giggle.

Hoisting himself out of bed with (all things considered) relatively little complaint, Dipper stumbled over to the bathroom. Sure, getting up so early in the morning, especially on a holiday, was pretty much the last thing he would have chosen for himself, but if he got to spend the day with his girlfriend (and hopefully soon-to-be fiance), he supposed he could live with it. Giving the dresser a pat as walked by it, Dipper's thoughts strayed to the ring box hidden inside it. If things went to plan (when did they ever?), it would be adorning Connie's finger by the end of the day.

Sweeping his eyes over the room one last time, Dipper closed the door on his way out, nodding to himself as he did so. Things were definitely alright, as far as he was concerned.

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 **AN: Call this a lesson about rushing to post things before they're ready, but this was originally intended to be a slightly longer story in which Dipper proposed to Connie after dinner on Christmas Eve, only for her to admit that she was planning on proposing over lunch on Christmas Day. Needless to say, that didn't pan out, but I felt the need to get something out in (sort of) time for the holidays, so this is what I could scrape together. Sigh.**


End file.
